The BC Nurses Union is calling on the Interior Health Authority to step up security for nurses and staff at Ponderosa Lodge in Kamloops.

Speaking on the NL Noon Report on Friday, president Christine Sorensen says recent reports of multiple incidents of nails being left behind the tires of nurses and other staff are concerning.

“This issue has been raised with the employer and from multiple union representatives that they are concerned about the health and safety of the staff that work there. And I do know that reports have gone to the RCMP and the RCMP is involved. Security does need to be increased,” Sorensen says.

“People do need to have a safe location to walk, accessible to their place of employment, so that they know when they leave work that it is still safe to go to. Certainly having a security officer walk people to and from their vehicle, monitor their vehicles while they’re parked, are all things that should be put in place to ensure that the staff are safe and that their vehicles are also safe.”

Sorensen says nurses at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, and at Kelowna General Hospital, are often forced to walk long distances at odd hours due to shortages of parking on hospital property.

She says the union has even received reports of nurses being verbally and physically assaulted.

This adds to the neglect of the safety and security of nurses during the pandemic, according to Sorensen. She says nurses working on the frontlines at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, and other hospitals, are “dangerously understaffed,” do not have full access to personal protective equipment like N-95 masks, and are suffering from psychological impacts of the pandemic.

“I am asking the Ministry of Health and Minister (Adrian) Dix to make it a priority to discuss and work with us now to ensure there are the supports needed to retain the nursing staff we all rely on,” she says.

Nurses at RIH have reached out to NL News and spoken on condition of anonymity, saying they collectively feel alone and forgotten about as the public health emergency continues.